


Prism

by Gemino



Series: you are art in his eyes, can't you see? [2]
Category: DCU
Genre: Dissociation, Jason Todd Should Have Just Hung Up, Jason's Fucked Up Okay, M/M, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, this was a bad idea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-23
Updated: 2015-11-23
Packaged: 2018-05-03 00:42:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5270114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gemino/pseuds/Gemino
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Well, I wouldn't have bothered you, except I-" Tim starts.</p><p>"It's fine," Jason cuts him off before jerking the phone away from his face and cursing. He sounds too eager. Wait- why is he worried about sounding eager?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Prism

**Author's Note:**

> SO AFTER A LONG WAIT  
> have a shitty companion piece from jason's pov  
> its cute theyre cute this was not beta'd
> 
> HEY you can definitely read this as a stand alone, but there is one comment concerning jason's eyes that might not make sense unless you've read Prismacolor (this conversation from Tim's POV) thank you anon named Sunrise for clueing me in

"What's wrong?" is the first thing that comes out of Jason's mouth when Tim calls him at two o'clock on a Thursday afternoon, and Jason wants to slap himself. Tim probably thinks he's an antisocial hermit now, which is true, but he tries to keep up a facade of normalcy. Tim has never contacted him for anything other than crime-fighting, though; Jason has a right to be worried.

"Hey. Yeah. Actually, I just need an extremely last minute date to Bruce's charity gala."

What.

"Jason?" Tim asks. His own voice echoes in his head: _Jason is unavailable due to shock right now, please leave a message._

"Um," Tim's voice is wavering and unsure; he sounds like he's about to hang up. Jason should let him. He opens his mouth to turn down the stupid offer, but then instead he blurts out, "You need a date?" in a tense, slightly strangled voice.

"Well. Yeah," Tim answers, sounding even more nervous than before- almost scared. Tim being afraid of him does't sit well with Jason for some mystifying reason. Fear is generally his goal, isn't it?

"And you. Picked me?" Jason hears himself say. Tim picked him. _Tim picked him._ Tim could have asked Stephanie, or Cass, or one of his civilian friends, but. _What the actual fuck._

"Well, I wouldn't have bothered you, except I-" Tim starts.

"It's fine," Jason cuts him off before jerking the phone away from his face and cursing. He sounds too eager. Wait- why is he worried about sounding eager?

"So. Can you. Come?" Tim presses. Jason realizes that he's worried about sounding eager because he's worried about what Tim thinks of him. He's gonna have to take a second to process this.

"Yeah, sure," he says, and then hastily pulls the phone away from his face again because- fuck, he hadn't even meant to say anything!

"What time is it, what is it for, what colors should I wear? You've gotta give me some details," he continues in the absence of a response from Tim. Jason's glad that his mouth can apparently carry on a conversation independently because the rest of him isn't doing so hot. His hands are shaking and he feels like he's on autopilot. Trying to clear his mind, Jason clenches his eyes shut and- his eyes. Right.

"Oh, and do you want green or blue contacts?" Jason asks, doing his best to make it sound casual when really it's not. _Woah, that's some freaky shit!_ he remembers the gas station clerk saying, and that one librarian, and the 5-year-old down in the park, and he should keep more mirrors in his house because maybe then he would stop forgetting, but he doesn't _like_ mirrors-

"...grey suit?" Jason catches, realizes that oh shit, Tim actually answered the question while Jason was monologuing, "You can wear whatever, it doesn't really matter?"

_Thanks for the helpful information, Tim._

"Green eyes, I guess, just to avoid a scene with Damian about how you're 'not really Bruce's son' or whatever-"

"You think the color of my eyes is going to keep him from pitching a fit?" Jason interrupts, smirking, feeling himself fall into a familiar persona. It's just Tim, just midnight, bullet-through-his-shoulder Replacement. This is ridiculous; Jason knows how to act around Tim.

"Well, it'll help," Tim huffs adorably, wait, "The gala is for a conservation society-"

Jason grins. Sometimes, B just sets himself up.

"Conservation! How much do you wanna bet Bruce is paying Pamela back for a favor?," Jason teases, raising his eyebrows even though no one's around to see him. Tim actually laughs at that one, and Jason's insides flip, and a small smile curls up the corners of his mouth. He ignores it. Tim's giggles fall silent suddenly, like he realized that he's not supposed to like talking to Jason, and there's a tense sort of moment. It's the kind that Jason has always hated. He fidgets a little before breaking it.

"Replacement?"

"I'm fine," Tim squeaks. Jason feels that smile pull at his mouth again. He had forgotten how much fun it is to get a rise out of Tim.

"It's at seven o'clock; I'll pick you up-" Tim begins.

"Nah," Jason says immediately. If he's going to be Tim's date, he's going to do it right, and that means motorcycles. "I'l pick you up. Still at that penthouse on 42nd?"

There's a moment of hesitation before Tim caves with a, "Yeah," like Jason knew he would.

"Great, see you at seven," Jason declares confidently and hangs up, grinning. His hands still haven't stopped shaking and he's still feeling kind of out of it, but Jason chalks it up to nerves, to the adrenaline rush that always accompanies flirting, to anything. Somehow, he ended up in his bedroom by the end of the conversation; he lets out a breath and collapses face-first onto the mattress. A nagging sensation develops that this is maybe not the best idea. _Don't put yourself in stressful situations with your family, Jason,_ the Dinah in his head says. _It never ends well,_ the Dinah in his head says, and-

The phone rings; Caller I.D. says it's Tim again.

"Yeah?" Jason answers.

"Don't wear a dress, please," Tim blurts. Jason's still enough on autopilot to start forming a response before he even really processes what Tim is saying.

"Well, since you said please," he drawls. _Hey, that was pretty good._ He mentally high-fives himself, and then mentally slaps himself because that's fucking stupid.

"Alright," Tim says. Jason opens his mouth to reply, but autopilot is failing him and he can't think of a cool, slightly dismissive way to end the conversation, so they're both just sitting there with nothing really to say to each other.

"Well, I'm going to go. Get dressed," Tim continues awkwardly. Jason grins and snickers and can almost feel the shift in persona this time.

"You do that, Babybird. Wouldn't want you showing up naked, would we?" he quips. Jason can practically feel Tim blush through the phone, can see him struggling to find a response. It's hilarious.

"Yeah," Tim finally chokes out, "Bye."

Jason laughs as the line goes dead. His pulse is racing despite the fact that he's totally fine. His hands still haven't stopped fucking shaking and it feels like he's waking up, all of a sudden, like the last ten minutes have been some kind of gauzy dream.

Wait. Wait.

**Author's Note:**

> AHAHAHA i sent this to the BAE-ta a while ago and she never responded bby if youre reading this please come back  
> if anybody else has some suggestions or revisions or wants to fix jason's shitty characterization or beta PLEASE comment or email me at thedresdenfillets@gmail.com


End file.
